BURBANK, Calif., - August 30, 2004 – Beloved by generations, Walt Disney’s timeless masterpiece <b>BAMBI</b> is
available for the first time ever on DVD in a magnificent 2-disc <b>Special Edition</b> on March 1, 2005. One of Walt
Disney’s greatest triumphs and all-time most requested Disney classics, <b>BAMBI</b> is one of the most celebrated
and endearing films of all time. Telling the coming-of-age story of life in the forest, <b>BAMBI</b> is a film experience
so strong that neither heart nor mind can ever forget it. Not available in any form for over eight years, this
exciting addition to Disney’s celebrated PLATINUM Series is the perfect Easter gift and will be available for a
limited time only.

Today’s technology meets Walt Disney’s vision, as the <b>BAMBI Special Edition</b> has undergone one of the most
expansive restorations in the history of The Walt Disney Company. This all-new digital restoration, done
exclusively for this Special Edition DVD release, required a team of film, computer and animation experts to apply
the most advanced technology and talent the studio has ever assembled. These efforts have restored <b>BAMBI’s</b>
extraordinary artwork to dazzling brilliance. The groundbreaking technology employed includes detailed frame-byframe
work on over 110,000 frames, requiring more than 9,600 hours of work! This has resulted in stunning digital
images with a far greater range of both color and density, allowing the quintessential Walt Disney classic to come
to life for everyone like never before.

The <b>BAMBI Special Edition</b> Disney DVD will feature a forest-full of bonus materials. Included will be “Inside
Walt’s Story Meetings” – a trip back in time where viewers experience the production of “Bambi” with Walt
Disney himself and his creative team; never-before-seen deleted sequences created from original storyboards; eight
games with something for all age groups from color recognition to trivia; the all-new “Forest Adventure Game”
with multiple levels of challenge that evolve from 2D to 3D animation; special sneak-peek at the all-new movie
“Bambi And The Great Prince;” DisneyPedia; Disney Time Capsule 1942 the Year of Bambi; “Disney’s Storytime:
Thumper Goes Exploring” an all-new story based on the Golden Book® classic; “The Making of Bambi” original
story concepts; music design, production stills; and much, much more.

<b>• “INSIDE WALT’S STORY MEETINGS”</b>
This exciting one-of-a-kind bonus feature takes you back in time to experience the production of “Bambi”
with Walt Disney himself and his creative team.

What few knew is that at each creative meeting, Walt had a stenographer taking copious notes. With
“INSIDE WALT’S STORY MEETINGS,” audiences hear these story notes, reenacted by voice actors
(including an actor voicing Walt Disney's comments) and set to footage, sketches and other production
items. It offers fascinating insight into Walt Disney and his team's process of creating the beloved classic,
through actual discussions and with concepts that have influenced filmmaking today.

<b>• NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DELETED SEQUENCES</b>
Disney researchers have uncovered storyboards from the original Bambi production. Now, with music and
dialogue added to these fascinating storyboards, discover sequences that were not part of the final film.

<b>• ALL-NEW “FOREST ADVENTURE GAME”</b>
This exciting game has multiple levels of challenge that evolve from 2-D to 3-D animation. Experience the
mysteries of the forest through the eyes of the inhabitants. The fun activities – from puzzles to trivia and
counting games – and the levels of complexity change along with the seasons of the forest.

<b>• BAMBI AND THE GREAT PRINCE: SNEAK PEEK</b>
Special sneak-peek at the upcoming all-new movie “Bambi And The Great Prince.”

<b>• DISNEYPEDIA</b>
In this Disney feature, branded on such hits as “The Lion King,” kids and adults can learn about the real-life
animals in BAMBI with animal and animated character comparisons.

<b>• DISNEY TIME CAPSULE</b>
BAMBI was first released in 1942, and this program takes viewers back for a look at that historical year.
In 1942 Walt and the Disney animators were enjoying a golden age of creativity. World War II, however,
would exact a heavy price on the Studio.

<b>• “DISNEY’S STORYTIME: THUMPER GOES EXPLORING”</b>
An all-new story based on the Golden Book® classic Thumper.

<b>• THE MAKING OF BAMBI: ORIGINAL CIRCLE OF LIFE</b>
<b>• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!</b>

Bambi first displayed his wide-eyed innocence on movie screens in 1942. The timeless coming-of-age story has
enchanted every generation since. A landmark film at the Disney Studios and in animation history, the film took
years to make. Walt Disney was delighted with the results he saw, and remarked to his staff “it’s a story that’s
going to have a tremendous amount of appeal.”

<b>BAMBI</b> was nominated for Academy Awards® for Best Sound, Best Song (“Love Is A Song,”) and Best Scoring
of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, 1942. This enormously popular film has been theatrically re-released to
generations of audiences in 1946, 1956, 1963, 1969, 1977, 1982, and 1988. Not only is <b>BAMBI</b> one of Walt’s
most popular and enduring films, but the movie also has its own 37 cent U.S. Postage stamp, issued just this year
(2004).

In this famous coming-of-age story, the young deer Bambi grows to adulthood as he experiences the wonder and
adventure of life in the Forest. <b>BAMBI</b>’s unforgettable iconic characters include Thumper the playful rabbit,
Flower the lovable skunk and Owl, the wise friend. Through changing seasons, fans will be “twitterpated” by the
endearing classic tale of Bambi, the young prince of the forest.

<b>BAMBI</b>’S breathtaking animated artwork stands among the milestones of Disney’s first “golden age.” Animated
by many of Disney’s legendary “nine old men” - including Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, Milt Kahl
and Eric Larson – <b>BAMBI</b> was the first of Disney’s animated masterpieces to have an all-animal cast. To achieve a
greater level of realism, Walt Disney brought live animals into the studio for the animators to study, a first for any
Studio. From their anatomical studies, the <b>BAMBI</b> animators created the most life-like animals ever seen in an
animated film. They pioneered the art of creating animals that were anatomically accurate, yet they incorporated
endearing emotion and attitudes into the animals’ personalities. Following this precedent, The Walt Disney Studios
has been known to be a temporary home for lions, raccoons and meerkats, among other exotic creatures.

To create the beautiful imagery of the forest, background artists painted hundreds of landscapes based on
extensive field research and nature photographs. As a result, the hidden textures of <b>BAMBI</b>’S magical
forest are delicately revealed as it changes from season to season. Animators even studied slow motion
photography of drops of milk to recreate the elaborate splash patterns made by a raindrop.

What's there sounds good, but I'm seriously hoping "much much more" is literally that this time since no commentary, galleries, trailers, or little detailed featurettes are mentioned (well, except the "original story concepts, music design, production stills" that are tucked away in the press release). This also has more children's features than I was expecting, but it doesn't seem like overkill to me...yet...Hopefully we'll be getting more info on the meatier specs in time.

Oh, and why is it touting that the film is "enhanced" for standard televisions... I realize the film is in the Acadamy ratio, but that wording is just odd...

What's there sounds good, but I'm seriously hoping "much much more" is literally that this time since no commentary, galleries, trailers, or little detailed featurettes are mentioned. This has also more children's features than I was expecting, but it doesn't seem like overkill to me...yet...

Yes, I was just about to come over and post this.

It does seem a little empty, although it is early days yet (it is March 2005 after all!).

Still, I'm less than impressed so far, particularly given the amount the comparative vintage of Snow White had. I mean, we KNOW there is stuff in the Archives.

For now, it doesn't sound that comprehensive. But that may change over the next 7 months or so...

As of now, I don't care for the special features. I'm just excited for having this, my second favorite Disney Movie on DVD. Sure the features are gonna concern me later, but honestly, we're all gonna buy it whether there were 200 awesome features or 3 good features.

Either way, this is great news, and without doubt my most anticipated film for the 2005 year!

This doesn't have me worried. Like Aladdin's inital press release, it seems to me that this press release is just a quick announcement with a preview to make retailers aware that the title is coming, and I'm sure we'll get more details later. Besides, the meaty features that we DO know of sound incredible.

Also, like Sleeping Beauty, I'd expect them to port over the making of from the '90s VHS release directly; I saw it recently and it was suprisingly solid for such a short runtime (15m or so.) It included one of the deleted songs, which was an alternate song for the rainstorm from the POV of the raindrops. Pretty cool, but I can see why it was cut.

I'm excited to hear the details about this release, although I admittedly hope they flesh out the special features to include more documentaries. Of course, the "Disney Time Capsule" sounds really cool; it's nice to have a historical framework for the release of the film.
As much as I'm not really fond of the games, It'll be nice to see something new to do with the games from the classic films, unlike the princess games.

Sounds like a solid release. Obviously, it's not going to be on par with Snow White, which is really too bad - just look at the bounty of archival material on that disc. However, it should at least match the quality of Aladdin's set, perhaps even surpass it.

I just noticed the Dolby® Digital 2.0 Original Mono Theatrical Mix. I guess movie theatres didn't have the capability to play stereo soundtracks in 1942. It's nice to see Disney including the original audio tracks on their DVDs. I'm starting to like Bambi even though I haven't seen it. I might even buy the Bambi stuffed animal I saw at the Disney Store.

Enhanced for 4X3 screens? That's a new one. I guess they are looking forward into the future when all screens are 16x9 and 4x3 movies are shown with less resolution because they are squeezed in between black bars on the sides, so since this uses full width(no side-bar) resolution, it is therefor "enhanced" for 4X3 screens. Make sense?

WOW how exciting the relase sounds great and I am not worried about not knowing everything that is going to be on the DVD yet. Since it is still early and Aladdin hasnt even been released but I am SUPER EXCITED!!!! Thanks Luke for the press relase.

Well, we all know this DVD is going to look and sound great but, as far as bonus features go, besides the "meaty" features announced it doesn't sound THAT exciting. 8 games is a bit of overkill for me... well, but as it has been said, there is a long way 'till March so I'm sure lots more is going to show up.

Besides, it is great to finally have more of the "old ones" getting the royal treatment.

A few aditional comments:
1- Unfortunatelly, it seems there is no Gift Set this time. I wonder if Disney will only release gift sets for the Platinum editions released in October?"Or only the newer movies are going to get the special box treatment?
2- It is surprising that Disney is including both a regular DD5.1 track and a DEHTM track. Since this movie was originally released in mono, I guessed there was not much they could do with the remixing, so the Enhanced Mix track comes as a surprise. Let's hope they don't make it too "modern", otherwise it will be kinda betraying the origins of the movie.
3- It's definately going to be a new "making of" featurette. The original one was called "Bambi: The Making of a Masterpiece". Let's hope it is at least 40-something minutes long, like the other Platinums.

DVD File has a few aditional suplements listed, which can always be taken with a grain of salt.

Quote:

Buena Vista has also just announced the beloved favorite Bambi, which will hit DVD on March 1st next year. Painstakingly restored and presented in its original 1.33:1 full screen, extras include the “Walt’s Annotated Bambi" documentary, the "Disneypedia" and "Disney Time Capsule" featurettes, never-before-seen deleted scenes, the all-new "Thumper’s Storytime" short based on the Golden Book classic, a Bambi Legacy promotional gallery with stills, rare music cues, a new music video and trailers, and a Bambi II sneak peek. List price will be $29.95.

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